I vote for option 3: the worst is the pathetic message board loser who feels a compulsion to spit all over a great player who is coming back from injury and who acts like he knows what is going on in the head and body of people he has never met.

People like you make message boards the petty places they so often are.

One of these days you will accept there are perfectly valid reasons for disliking this 'great player'.

I gotta say, this stinks. He should've recovered from the virus by AO. What does he has to lose there? He'll lose last year's points anyway. Playing AO could've only damaged his reputation, and skipping AO because of that is a coward's decision. And I don't want to think about other reasons to skip AO.

Well running into Novak in the QF certainly wouldn't be a pleasant match for either.

If Nadal is healthy, it'll be straight sets, maximum 4. His seeding really isn't an issue for clay tournaments, having to potentially beat Djokovic-Murray-Federer on hardcourt is where it screws him over.

If Nadal is healthy, it'll be straight sets, maximum 4. His seeding really isn't an issue for clay tournaments, having to potentially beat Djokovic-Murray-Federer on hardcourt is where it screws him over.

I think you are selling Novak a little too short.....It's not like Nadal beating him on clay these days is so easy even though he would probably

Fantastic news. Now we won't be subjected to his filth tennis. Nice fabrication of some fake illness to spare himself the embarrasment of a humiliating defeat. Probably won't see him until the clay season when he can win by just running sideways forever and not have to demonstrate any skill with the racket.

Nadal withdraws from Australian Open
Saturday, 29 December, 2012
By Tennis Australia

Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from next month's Australian Open.

A stomach virus has plagued the Spanish superstar's preparation for the summer as he attempted to rejoin the tour for the first time since a mid-year knee injury.

Ironically, in the end it was the virus, and not the knee, that prompted his decision.

"I am sorry and very sad to announce that I will not play in the Australian Open," the 2009 Australian Open champion said. "My knee is coming along okay, but a stomach virus has left me unable to get ready in time to tackle the rigours of a Grand Slam.

"Because of the virus, I have been unable to get any match practice and simply would not be doing myself or my friends in Australia justice if I went down there so unprepared. You need your body to be at its best for the Australian Open," Nadal said.

"It was a difficult decision and I am extremely disappointed to be missing such a great event. I love coming to Melbourne and playing on Rod Laver Arena before the Australian crowds. It brings out the best in me. It hurts to have to wait another 12 months before I get another chance. In the meantime, the focus is now on desperately trying to get back on the tour."

Nadal was originally due to play his first matches since the surgery in Abu Dhabi followed by an event in Doha. The virus has meant he has had to withdraw from both, thus depriving him of match practice and no doubt playing a large part in his decision to withdraw.

"It is completely understandable and we really feel disappointed for him," Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said. "But without any match practice and without sufficient lead up time on the practice court, it makes it virtually impossible for him to get his body ready.

"We just hope he gets better quickly and we see him back on the tour as soon as possible. Tennis fans across the world have been missing him. Our Australian Open staff will very much miss him and his team as he is not only a great player, but also a great guy with good people around him,"explained Tiley who has been in regular contact with the Nadal camp in recent weeks.

"We wish Rafa all the best. I am confident we will see him back on the tour soon and back in Australia for 2014, no doubt as one of the contenders for the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup."

lol @ the 17 pages of speculation when all they had to was read page 4 for the real reasons as to why Nadal withdrew... his OWN words.

I'm not sure the virus story is BS... Of course in itself it wouldn't stop him from playing a tournament that is still so far ahead, but if he was already running on a tight schedule for his preparation, then losing a whole week of practice may have disrupted his schedule enough to make him withdraw from AO.

I don't believe he's scared of anyone, but I do believe he is a perfectionist, and he is proud, so he does not want to come back if he knows he's going to play badly.